A New Jerusalem

I recently bought a large book of poetry. I was just thumbing through it at the bookstore and the first poem I came to was A New Jerusalem by William Blake, and that prompted me to buy the book.

I can’t put my finger on it, but for some reason this poem blows me away. I think partly because I’ve heard it set to music. It was featured in the funeral scene of Chariots of Fire and also, of all places, in a great cover of the hymn by Emerson, Lake and Palmer on their album Brain Salad Surgery (gross title, good album).

A New Jerusalem

And did those feet in ancient time

Walk upon England’s mountains green?

And was the holy Lamb of God

On England’s pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine

Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was Jerusalem builded here

Among these dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!

Bring me my arrows of desire!

Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!

Bring me my chariot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand

Till we have built Jerusalem

In England’s green and pleasant land.

William Blake

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6 thoughts on “A New Jerusalem

  1. Very Braveheartian, in my opinion.

    Something stirs my insides to action as I read it. I really must watch Chariots of Fire. Maybe we should have a Guys night or something and watch it.

  2. I’d be all over that!

    Since it’s poetry, I have interpreted the bow, arros, spear and sword as metaphorical, rather than literal. I intend to read more Blake because from what I’ve heard he’s amazing.

    You have to hear this set to music sometime. Stirring!

  3. Wow, had you really not come across this before? It’s HUGE in this country (England). Parry’s setting is often suggested as an alternative national anthem. It’s one of those hymns that everyone knows. It seems inconceivable to me that you wouldn’t have known, sung it in school, heard it at rugby matches, know its associations with the Women’s Institute, sung it at every wedding of non-Christian, not particularly imaginative couple you’ve been to (that’s probably unfair, but I sang in my church choir as a kid. Singing at weddings was good because you got paid, but lots of the couples weren’t regular church goers and the selection of hymns was pretty limited and Jerusalem got sung a lot. End of digression). But then, why would you? It’s such a specifically English song. Did you know it’s based on the Glastonbury mythology of Joseph of Arimathis bringing the young Jesus to England and then later gringing the Holy Grail?

    I’m ambivalant about Blake and about this poem. I like the call to buuld Jerusalem on earth, if you see that as a call to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to all of humanity, but the more I learn of Blake as a person and his fairly wacky theological ideas, the less I like him.

  4. Thanks PWF.

    I would never have heard this before short of Chariots Of Fire and the Emerson, Lake and Palmer LP. I guess it is specifically English and that’s probably the main reason.

    I plan to study Blake a bit – but you’re probably right about him.

  5. One thing I do like about Blake is his illustrations – they’re so intricate and distinctive. There was an exhibition here in Cambridge of one of the original editions of ‘The Giant Albion and the Daughters of Jerusalem’. It’s beautiful. The writing is small and intricate and the images work with the text without being either distracting or over-literal. Worth tracking down.

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